Day 6 without Scott.

We'll just say the day ended with me giving my notice at work and taking the boys to Wendy's so that they could eat while strapped in.  Pretty darn busy....and stressful.

Porto, installment 4

The conference was good, I'm getting really good at snoozin' through planery speakers. I presented today: it was late in the day, right before the banquet so there weren't very many people around. No one even asked a question afterwards. Crickets were chirping. On the bright side, I met a professor from Aachen and I went to the banquet in a wine cellar. It was a super fancy candlelit dinner, and I don't think there was a cap on the amount of wine one could drink. I've been spending a lot of time lately explaining why I don't drink.

I didn't want to drag my camera around, so here's a picture I took a few nights ago from the bridge:

And here's this fantastic lady we saw near the beach carrying quite a load. I was pretty slow on the draw with my camera, but I managed to document the phenomenon.

Porto, installment 3

The Dynamic Duo: unfortunately, I won't be around on 12 Julho, but oh if I could, oh if I could. Sigh.

Last night, we walked over the bridge into an old neighborhood with 10ft wide streets winding down the hill. We had dinner at a resturaunt with no tourists and no one even spoke english. We had a great meal, and a great view of the city. This is Paul, one of my labmates with Isabel, a spaniard who has been hanging out with us.

This morning, we took a little boat ride on the river: very nice.

We just got into our hotel near the University for the conference, and the bathroom is bizarre. There is a window between the bathroom and the room, giving the bathroom user a fantastic view of the rest of the room, while the occupants of the room have an opportune and strangely inappropriate view of all of the goings-on in the WC. I really wonder how it happened....

...Pedro from the architectural firm is brainstorming with his office-mate and long time golf buddy Manuel, when suddenly Pedro bursts out, "I know, we could put a long window about chest-high between the bathroom and bedroom." Manuel lights up and responds, "That would be perfect! I always wondered what was going on in the bathroom during my absence, and I could probably watch TV from the can." "Great, it's settled then. We'll cut a whole in the wall and put a bathroom window in every room." And with that, Pedro calls his wife Sylvia to let her know he's on his way home and both men pack up and head for the door....

Parts of church I really enjoyed today: 

From Dennis's talk-

"Our world is structured by symbols, memorials, landmarks, and other “memories” which call us to live in remembrance, even of things that we have no memory of at all. The scriptures enlarge our memory of stories and teachings from before our birth. Alma exhorted the church to remember the captivity of their fathers—though this captivity was before most of them were born. I can visit a Vietnam War memorial, and “remember” the war, though I certainly cannot recall it. When I put my daughter down to sleep at night, I remember, in a sense, my own parents doing so to me. And when I look up and see the shimmering full moon above me, I live in remembrance of all my ancestors, who have surely done the same thing.

Many of these acts of remembrance are quite mundane. Ideally, however, there is a sacredness that is intertwined with this mundane-ness. Conscious reflection can certainly mediate this sacredness, but ideally living in remembrance becomes such a part of who we are, that we cannot help but to live with an enriched and enlarged memory before us. Moreover, memory is often generative—by engaging in memory-full activities, we embody those who have gone before us and remind the next generation of that which they cannot recall. Likewise, partaking of the bread and water is a way of remembering and embodying something none of us can recall—the Savior’s atoning sacrifice and voluntary death for each of us."

From Sam's lesson:

Luke 22 - The sacrament instituted by the Savior was full of symbolism.  He literally brake the bread, as his body would be broken for us.  As a priesthood holder brakes the bread during the administration of the sacrament, he can compare his own sins and know that he has literally broken the body of Christ, and that Christ suffered it for him.

As Christ washed the feet of the apostles, and showed that the Master and Lord humbles himself to serve, we need to serve his sheep, our fellowman likewise.

From Stacey's lesson:

Our testimonies are a living organism.  They live and breathe, need nourishment and care.  We may have hope of things, believe things, and even come to know things through the Spirit of Revelation.  The gospel gives us hope, reason to believe, have faith to act, and directs us how to receive even knowledge of Godly things.

Fantastic Day at Church Today!   And now we (my neighbors and I) are going to play UNO and eat apple crisp into the night so that I'm not lonely!  :)  AND...the fireflies are out tonight!

A lovely Sunday

Here's a fantastic shot of Aaron, taken by Team Osborne.  

Derek is a fantastic child thrower. He specializes in the "high throw."  He spent a good 10 minutes throwing all 4 of the kids Timmy, Aaron, Brooklyn and Kate up in the air while Janel snapped shots.  I wouldn't be surprised if he was extremely sore today.  Thanks Derek!

Best Parts of the Day:

• A talk Dennis Wendt gave at church.
• Great Sunday School Lesson by Sam Richards
• Fantastic Relief Society Lesson by Stacey Hoopes

I haven't been to Relief Society for over a year, so it was a rare treat!

• The boys traditionally go up to see Scott on the stand after church, but since he wasn't there, I told Aaron and Timmy they could go shake the bishops hand.  They were both all excited to go up and talk to him, and it was cute.

• Watching the boys call down to the kids in the courtyard from their window after naps.

Aaron:  "Hi Guys!  Hi Guys!  You have a auto?  You have a choo-choo??  Hi Guys!"                                    
They enjoyed watching the kids play for a good 15 minutes.  Asher was kicking a light ball up toward the window, and when he would get close, Aaron would yell, "OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!" like Scott does with him when he does something cool.

Worst Parts of the Day:

• Timmy refusing to walk out to the car for church.
• Aaron said "O-kay" instead of "O-tay"  He's growing up too fast! :)
• Talking to Katie Weber and Leslie Gonzales about their MOVING this week, along with the Pences and Johnsons.  So sad.  SO sad.  This time of year is a season of goodbyes.  I do not like goodbyes.

Porto, installment 2

Day 2 in Porto: I'm staying at a hostel with 6 beds in the room: it was extremely hot and the oxygen didn't last long. Luckily, I snagged some earplugs so the snoring and people coming in and out didn't phase me. I was so tired that even though there was a party upstairs, I was still conked out after a few minutes. I awoke to the sound of tons of squawking sea gulls and pigeons. A gull chick made it's way to our balcony, so one of the other guys got "bombed" while relaxing out there. They took the balcony with one fell swoop. Hopefully, they don't advance further.

I went to church this morning and didn't understand a word of it, but I got the gist. There was an elder there from Darmstadt, so I got to use a little German. I got back just in time to go out to the coast with Paul, Evan, and Isabel (who is from Spain). It was nice, but very hot. After we got back, I had a nice cold shower to cool down, and we've just been relaxing.

Best Parts About Today:

• Visiting Greenfield Village with the Hoopes Family, riding the train, model T cars, and carousel, and seeing a working farm and historic train yard.
• Janel capturing an in-air photo of Aaron, and other darling photos at the Matthai Botanical Garden.
• Seeing the boys faces light up while they fed the ducks, rode the carousel and jumped around the MB Garden.
• Perfect weather! (Not too cold, not too hot)

Worst Parts About Today:

• That Aaron fell asleep in the car on the way home and when he finally fell asleep at home, pooped....and after I cleaned him up and he finally went back to sleep... pooped again!  As most mothers know....there is no going back to bed after that!
• Getting my boys to bed at 8:50 pm (almost 2 hours late) and missing the evening "catch up" hours.
• Surveying the horrific damage my house is in after a busy day like today. 
• Absolute exhaustion, back pain and itchy legs (still)!

Porto, installment 1

I’ve never done a “travel log” before, but I figured that since I’m emailing KT every day anyway, I might as well just put it all on the blog (minus the lovey-dovey stuff like “I miss you sweetums” and that sort of thing). 

So I had a crazy airport day today.  Flew to Philly...fine.  Flew to Madrid....there was a storm so we were an hour late.  My connection was tight in Madrid, but still manageable.  In Detroit, they gave me the boarding passes, but not from Madrid to Porto, because I was switching airlines.  They just said to go to the gate and get a pass, no big deal.  So when I get out of the plane in Madrid, it was unlike any airport I have ever been in.  Just one long walkway with no gates on either side.  I followed the signs to my terminal and I had to get on the bus.  They had a security check there, and they wouldn’t let me through without a boarding pass.  So I run upstairs to get one from the US Airways ticket office, and the ticket area is so crowded that I couldn’t get anywhere.  I totally missed the flight, and got re-booked for 6 hours later.  It took me almost two hours to locate my luggage.  Then I had to go to a different terminal that was probably 5 or 10 miles away, and check in my luggage and go through security again for a whole other airline.  All of this, and I was living with my measly 5 hours of sleep in the last 24 hours.  Not fun.  Anyway, here’s a pic of the Madrid airport: the nice terminal that I ended up at: (I wanted to get a self-picture of me making a peace sign or something, but I actually got in trouble by a polecia for taking pictures in the airport.   I think I’ve maxed out my knowledge of the Spanish language. 

Anyway, I met a cool guy from Texas / Nederland, and we had a cool talk about religion (it always comes up once Germany becomes a topic).  I finally made my way to the hostel, and it is in the coolest part of town: very hilly right by the river with cliffs and stuff.  This is a view from the balcony:

Confession

Scott,
Your Dove Chocolate-filled tie has been on the door since Sunday, calling to me, but I have left it alone because it was your Father's Day gift from Timmy.  But seeing as you left today, and another 10 days of temptation seems almost unbearable...I ate your chocolates!

So, you have my permission to eat a Portuguese Chocolate Bar as a replacement....and have an extra gelato with dinner.  Please forgive me.
Love,
Katie

Best Parts of the Day:
Aaron's fantastic giggles.  He counts "hun, doo, nine, den!," jumps into my arms and I spring him into the sofa cushions as his face lights up with a HUGE smile and smerky giggles.

Taking the boys to the Hands on Museum shortly, then to see "whoo owls" at the Leslie Science Center.  It's quite darling to hear Aaron and Timmy talking to the birds.
Aaron:  "Hi Owls!  Hi Owls!"
Timmy: Screeches back to the Bald Eagle, then translates "He says, 'hi guys, look at me!'"

Worst Part of the Day:
Dropping Scott off at the airport for a 10 day long international trip....without me!

"I want Exercise"

Timmy has the habit of turning on the DVD player and TV to see if I accidentally left one in.  If there is, then he sometimes gets to watch part of a show before I realize it.  Yesterday he did that and he got Denise Austin's "Shrink your Fat Zones: Pilates"  Instead of whining for something else, he started yelling "I want exercise!!"
Aaron echoed that sentiment with some kind of jarbled version.  So, I turned it on.

The next thing I know, I peak around the corner from preparing dinner to see them both on the floor with their legs above their heads, while they are alternating tapping their feet on the floor at a time.
Not bad for first timers!

Male Compliment

I just overheard Asher tell his older brother, "Hyrum, you are so good at catching snakes."  I thought, "that must be the ultimate male compliment."

It's been a BEAUTIFUL morning!  Partly Cloudy, 70 degree, lots of friends in the courtyard.  And, as it happens, a great day for catching snakes.

Why we feel loved, why KT does not.

Visits....

We have been the grateful recipients of quite a few visits this month, hence the long bout of online silence.

First up: my parents. They came for an extended weekend in which we did Stapleton things; like hiking, hiking, hiking, hiking, and Civil War reenactments. Extremely typical Stapleton activities. It was pretty stormy the whole time, and they even got the rare privilege of a little tornado warning with sirens and everything. As it turned out, it was pretty weak-sauce. However, wussy-and-disappointing tornado warning aside, I would have to label the visit as a complete success.

The next weekend was the Parker's turn. Scott and Nancy and their kids Brooklyn and Jackson crashed in our luxurious guest suite for a fun-filled weekend of riding the blue bus, touring the Law Quad, hide and seek on the wave field, flower smelling at the arboretum, flower beholding at the botanical gardens, excessive sweating at Greenfield village, and history witnessing at the Ford Museum. Sounds exhausting doesn't it? We like to work our guests into the ground so that they will always get a good nights sleep despite any Northwood night noises and slightly crowded sleeping accommodations. Plus, food always tastes better when you've earned it. (I make that joke, but KT kept us very well fed.)

A couple of days after booting the Parkers out of our house and forcing them to march back to Arizona barefoot in the snow uphill both ways, Stefan Müller dropped in for a visit. Stefan was a resident of Stuttgart back in the days of our missions in Germany. He was so involved with the missionaries that I knew him pretty well despite never living within a couple hours train ride. KT, however, served as a missionary in his ward as he was the ward mission leader. Stefan was in Troy for some business, and he learned through the "face-vine**" that we lived in Michigan.

**For those of you who are significantly less hip and up to date than myself, the term "face-vine" refers to the social networking internet site "facebook", and the more colloquial term "grape-vine" from the phrase "I heard it through the grape-vine." You might be familiar with this phrase through the song by CCR of the same name, or the corresponding add campaign for California raisins: the cute little raisins in sunglasses dancing around and rapping. Some of you who know me and many who do not might "call me out" on the fact that I do not, as of this moment, have an account with said site, giving me no right to claim hipness or make references to something I know nothing about. However, my hipness lies in not being hip, and I'll make references to whatever I darn well please. This is my internet too you know!**

Anyway as I was saying, it was great having Stefan over and "chewing the fat" with him about the current state of many of our former German acquaintances. Not to mention that our kids loved him. Katie's favorite story was on the day we went rafting. Stefan went up to get something in his room before we left and Timmy started to bawl really suddenly. She asked "what is the matter?" and he answered "I want that boy to come with us!"

So that's why we feel loved. Why KT doesn't feel loved:

Poison Ivy

It's been pretty bad.

How Aaron Counts

"Hun!... Doo!... Nine!... Den!"
(1, 2, 9, 10!)

He likes to count like this when he's about to jump!



Thanks Janel for this cute photo!

These plants are NOT my friends!

I went to the doctor yesterday to figure out why the "mosquito bites" on my legs have started blistering, spreading and basically eating up the entirety of my legs!

Turns out that one of these little darlings (I think the sumac) has caused my 10 day stint of "contact dermatitis" and it's showing no signs of letting up yet! WebMD says 2-3 weeks before it clears. Ah!